PALOMAR MOUNTAIN: Deal nears to keep state park open

There is a strong chance that
Palomar Mountain State Park
will remain open this summer despite being slated with 70 other California parks for a July 1 closure.

Park officials and Friends of Palomar Mountain State Park, a local nonprofit, say they are close to approving a 3-year deal to use money raised by the nonprofit to close a funding shortfall.

Campgrounds at the picturesque park, about an hour northeast of Escondido, closed in October due to budget cuts. That left the park open for day-use only.

The campgrounds would reopen under the deal.

With more than 11 miles of hiking trails, campgrounds, a fishing pond, meadows and coniferous forests over 1,862 acres, Palomar Mountain State Park is often compared with recreational spots in the Sierra Nevada.

The state and the nonprofit cleared a key hurdle last week when high-level parks officials approved the tentative agreement, said Nedra Martinez, a San Diego County-based state parks superintendent.

A final approval is needed from the state parks department's budget unit, Martinez said.

"We're hoping within two to three weeks ... that it will be all signed and official," she added.

Since January, the nonprofit has raised more than $74,000 in donations and pledges to keep the park open, according to its
website
.

That money is expected to fill the gap between what the state spends to keep the park open (about $220,000) and the revenue the park generates, said Rick Barclay, the nonprofit's chairman.

Barclay said the
fundraising campaign
is one part of the nonprofit's long-term vision for the park, one that includes funding the completion of years of deferred maintenance and finding ways to showcase its natural and historical resources.

"We want more educational and interpretive programs for under-served children," added Barclay, a Temecula resident who said he's grown fond of the park through years of hiking and volunteer trail restoration.

Once a deal is signed, the state would hire park aides and prepare the campgrounds for use, reopening them after a couple weeks, Martinez said.

Staffing at the park was reduced in recent months to just one maintenance worker and one ranger, Martinez said.